US is in weaker position than before war as Tehran has shown capacity to inflict pain on Trump administration
Middle East crisis – live updates
The announcement of a two-week ceasefire has allowed Donald Trump to hail the reopening of the Hormuz strait as a victorious dawn of a new golden age, but it is Iran that now enters peace talks with the stronger hand.
The Tehran regime goes to the negotiations planned for Friday in Pakistan bloodied but still intact. It still holds a stockpile of highly enriched uranium (the original crux of the conflict with the US, Israel and allies), and it now claims at least part-control of the strait, having demonstrated its power to close the narrow waterway and hold the world to ransom.
Trump won instant gratification. He got to remain the central player in the drama, having terrified the world with his threat that “a whole civilisation will die” before claiming a few hours later to have dramatically reversed course and to be “far along” along the road to an enduring Middle East peace.
